ΤΟ

To say that thou canst fascinate and charm

Would be to tell thee what thyself hast proved (Who know thee well, too well have learned that truth); But if the power be also thine at will

To assume ungraciousness, disgust, repel,

Like one who plays a most unsuited part—

Oh, why in mercy didst not take it up

When we first met, and I was drawn at once
By an attraction irresistible-

A magnet hidden in thy glowing breast-
To thee my life, soul of my soul, to thee?

Had I been great or wise, or honest, good,
Or truly noble, quite above my peers,

I had, seeing my hopelessness, o'ercome,
Or rather shirked to match my weapons with,
This mighty and most binding power of love.

But being merely human, mortal-like

I drank the deepest draughts that I could drain
From that delicious cup, which thou didst hold :
Said I, 'While lasts thy fortune, drink thy fill !'

And if the hideous truth now haunts my soul,
Of the cup fallën on the floor, the draught
Expended, the dear hurrying moments gone
When I might gaze on thy loved face, and taste
The mellow words which fell from thy ripe lips,
And look-O Heaven, I know not how I looked!-
Into those deep unfathomable eyes—

The Wheel is turned, and Fortune shakes the urn.

TO A CHILD.

1.

Little girl with the golden hair,

Down where the waters dance and bubble,

When I ask you to row my boat,

Shake of the curls, and 'It's too much trouble.' And no other words that you can spell

Could have made me like you half as well.

11.

Innocent little darling,

Whom I love, as I love to see
The dewy gems of the morning,

Or the diamonds out at sea!

Without a thought for the future,
And without a stain in the past,

If I thought that you understood

I'd stifle How long will it last?'

me,

III.

At your time of life, my dear little maid,

You should know nothing but 'I'm not afraid;'
So now I will take you into my boat,

And over the glittering waves we'll float,
Till the crimson light dies out in the west
And the beautiful starshine whispers 'rest.'

A REVERIE.

Years that have fought in vain with Time's stern course (Since last I climbed this hill), like freighted craft,

Toiling against the rapids; round your bows

Are clustered weeds and rushes from the bank.

And these some misname knowledge, and some, life;

But they who know them best have other names
Whereby they call them as the stately plant,
Which in our summer forest shows a queen,

Hath a more truthful and a deadlier name
In herbal books. But call them what ye will:
I would resign them for the artless faith

In which I rested twenty years ago.

O to believe, as I did then,

An universal faith in men ;